Beater



vL. H. TOLHUHST.

HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1918.

`13351'L305. v Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

Malaya/iwi?? l J0 .WT/nefs.

LoUIs H. .ToIHURsn or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

"specification of Letters Patent. `PatentedY Mar. 30, 1920.

Application led .Tune 24, 1918. Serial No. 241,700.

To all wlw/m, t may concern:

Be it known that I,'L oUIs H. ToLI-IURST, acitizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State-ofCalifornia, have inventedv a new and useful Beater, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates tothe art of producing vegetable fiber, andparticularly to the art of separating such fiber from the pulp withwhich it is found associatedY in the leaves of the yucca and similarplants. In the yucca the fibers are found in the leaves lying inpractically parallel relationship and embedded in a mass of cellular andpectinous matter which, for convenience, we may call the pulp.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a machine forseparating the fiber from the pulp, so that the fiber may be utilizedfor making rope, binder twine and glie like for which it is particularlyapplica- In the drawing, which is diagrammatic,

Figure 1 is a side view of one embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on a plane represented by the line 2-2, Fig. 1, thisplane being viewed in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing the action of certain parts with thebeater belt down.

Fig. 4 is a similar view with the beater belt in its upper position.

In this embodiment of my invention, a traveling main belt 11, passingover pulleys 12 and 13, serves to carry the fibrous material which isheld thereon by means of one or more rolls 14 turning in fixed bearings(not shown). A guide plate 15 carried on a stationary cross member 16also tends to hold the material solidly on the belt. Guided in bearings20 is a vertical rod 21, which is actuated by an eccentric 22 drivenfrom a shaft 23. The rod 21 carries Vat its lower end a belt holder 24on which a flexible beater belt 25 is Secured. The holder 24 hasconsiderable elasticity so that the belt 25 is tight at all times.Mounted below the beater belt 25 and below the main belt 11 is a movableplate 30 which is held in its upper position by an arm 31 pivoted at32and having an adjustable tension spring 33 at its outer end. A guideplate 34 tends to restrain the material and keep it on the belt after ithas left the beater belt 25.

The method of operation of'my inventionv is as follows:

The material tov lie-treated, which consists of the leaves of yuccawhich have previously been boiled and mechanically treated to crush themand to separate the fiber from the pulp, is placed on the belt11 and'is'carried in the direction of the arrow toward and under the guideplate 15; This guide plate, with the parts in the position shown in Fig.3,firmly grips the fiber Vand prevents its movement. As the belt 25 isforced down by the action of the eccentric 22 it strikes on the top ofthe fiber carried on the belt 11 and forces the parts into the positionshown in Fig. 4, the plate 30 giving way 4to allow the belt 11 todeflect as shown in Fig. 4. The downward movement of the belt 11 issufficient to free the guide plate 15 from contact with the fiber or atleast to greatly reduce its pressure on the fiber so that they fiber ispulled forward on the belt 11 by the downward motion of the belt 25.

As the belt 25 starts to rise from the position shown in Fig. 4 theplate 15 first` grips the fiber and the fiber is then sucked up by therapid movement of the belt 25 so that the loose ends projecting underthe belt 25 assume the position shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3.The'libers are thus subjected to a beating action followed by awinnowing action, the air being drawn in from all sides under the belt25'as it rises, thus tending to winnow out the small particles ofpectinous or cellular matter which were adherent to the fibers beforebeing separated by beating.

In practice the shaft 23 can be run 1500 revolutions per minute whichgives a sharp blow on the beating or downward stroke of the belt 25 anda strong suction on the winnowing or upward stroke of the belt 25. Itwill be seen 4that my invention contemplates striking the fiber andbending it to separate the particles of pulp, and immediately thereafterfluffing or winnowing the fiber with rapid air currents to removeparticles of pulp. It will be further seen that during the beating thefiber is held between the belts l1 and 25 and thus pulled forward,

while during the winnowing operation the fiber is held more or lessstationary at one end between the plate l5 and the belt l1, the freeends being pulled up in a fluffyV mass through which the air is drawn.

What I claim is l. An apparatus for treating iber-bear` ingy material tseparate the iber from the pulp, comprising a flexible supporting means011 which the material rests; a beater; and mechanism for moving saidbeater up and down in such a manner as to strike a sharpblow on saidmaterial. v 2. An apparatus as in claim l in which said supporting meansincludes a main belt on which the material is carried.

3. An apparatus as in claim l in which said beater comprises a flexiblebeater belt and resilient means for holding it under tens1on.

4, An apparatus as in claim 3 in which said flexible means alsocomprises a plate supported belovs7 said main belt at a point directlybelow said beater belt; and elastic means for supporting' said plate insuch a nows or fluffs the material by air suction.

Y for driving s'aidapparatus at such a speed Y that said beater belt onits up stroke win- 6. An apparatus as in claim 5 .also comprising meansfor holding said material rigidly until said main belt is somewhat de-vpressed by said beater belt.

7. An apparatus for treating ber bearing material to separate the liberfrom the pulp, comprising a flexible supporting means on which thematerial rests, a beater having a beating surface so located as to besubstantially parallell to the surface of said leXible supporting meansupon which said material rests whenever said beater contacts with saidmaterial, yand means for'moving said beater up and down.V f

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California7 this th day of June, 1918.

Louis H. ToLHURs-Tj

